Torque splitter: a game changer since 2021
“The torque splitter, with its fully variable torque distribution between the rear wheels, has enabled us to achieve a new level of lateral dynamics. It was a game changer,” says Marvin Schwätter, Technical Project Manager of the RS 3. “We identified potential for improvement and fine-tuned the current model in detail. As a result, the RS 3 is now even more agile and performs better in bends.”
And the compact sports car demonstrates this on the hairpin bends in the Spanish Montserrat mountains as well as on the Circuit Parcmotor Castellolí northwest of Barcelona, at the foot of the mountain massif. The varied layout of this four-kilometer racetrack, with its tight bends and significant differences in altitude, offers ideal conditions to experience the increased driving dynamics of the top model. Start the throaty, roaring five-cylinder engine, select the performance mode tuned for the racetrack, and experience lateral dynamics in precision.
The RS 3 avoids understeer right at the entrance to the bend and turns in more willingly thanks to fine-tuning – including brake torque vectoring. This means that while the torque splitter provides torque to the rear wheel on the outside of the curve, the wheels on the inside of the bend are braked slightly. Thanks to these finely dosed braking interventions, the RS 3 follows the curve radius more precisely than before and is positioned earlier and better at the apex of the curve. This allows the driver to accelerate sooner and achieve a higher speed at the exit of the bend.